Light floral notes hang suspended in the air for the briefest of moments when the blonde assassin wanders by.
He is clad only in a towel, his lean body a study in the arrangement of angles and planes.
Ran watches him in silence for a moment from a darkened corner of the room. Then he detaches himself from the wall and moves slowly, deliberately to stand behind the blonde man.
Yohji taps a cigarette from a box then pauses and his green eyes flick up to meet Ran's stormy gaze.
"What?"
Slender fingers reach out, threading through the wet locks that hang limply around Yohji's face, framing his startled emerald orbs.
"Your hair smells of lavender."
Ran draws closer to Yohji. He places a finger on Yohji's lips, tracing the outline of each soft curve. His other hand finds the white cylinder dangling loosely from Yohji's fingers.
"Don't ruin it."
Ran drops the cigarette to the floor and crushes it underfoot.
An answering smile ghosts across the corners of Yohji's lips. He laces Ran's fingers together with his.
Yohji dips his head and presses the knuckles of Ran's hands gently to his lips. His gaze never strays from Ran's own.
That was the first time.
Lying awake in the empty dark, Ran listens quietly to the key in the lock.
Yohji smells of beer and cigarettes as he stealthily slips into the room.
The bathroom door closes to the sound of running water.
Ran waits.
When Yohji finally emerges, he is clad in sweat pants slung low down his waist. Steam wafts out from the enclosed space behind him.
He radiates warmth from his body and Ran thinks it matches the stirrings of desire in his own heart.
Ran grabs Yohji's wrist, dragging the other man close. He starts, tenses and Ran thinks that Yohji may refuse but then the other man submits.
No words are exchanged in the ensuing minutes.
Yohji's long fingers clench in Ran's scarlet locks. His eyes are squeezed shut and Ran wants to ask why Yohji no longer holds his gaze steady and clear the way he used to.
When it is all over, Ran buries his face in fistfuls of Yohji's tousled locks as the other man trembles beneath him.
There have been many after that first time, but Ran always remembers that one moment before, when the possibilities glittered in the darkness like polished diamonds and Yohji's smile lit up the room.
Tonight Ran thinks Yohji's hair is scented with lavender and the hint of another man's cologne.
The End.